In general, a reinforced soil retaining wall includes a reinforced soil mass, in which a strip-shaped reinforcement material is buried, and a retaining wall, i.e. a facing member, stood at the front of the reinforced soil mass. The front end of the reinforcement material, which is buried in the reinforced soil mass (i.e. a filling mass), is connected to the facing member via an anchor pin, or is inserted into a reinforcement material insertion groove formed in the upper surface of the facing member.
In addition, in the reinforced soil retaining wall, a mesh type grid, a band type fiber reinforcement material, or a steel strip reinforcement material is used as the reinforcement material. In the present invention, a band type fiber reinforcement material is used as the reinforcement material. Hereinafter, a reinforced soil retaining wall using a band type fiber reinforcement material will be described.
A conventional retaining wall construction block is disclosed in Patent Document 1, wherein a pin holder is installed in the rear surface of a block in a buried state such that it is possible to prevent the separation of connection pins at the time of pulling a reinforcement material and to rapidly and easily perform a reinforcement material connection operation, instead of using an exposure type anchoring method. The pin holder is provided with a reinforcement material insertion part, through which a band type fiber reinforcement material is inserted into the block. Connection pin insertion parts are formed at the left and right sides of the upper part of the reinforcement material insertion part in a symmetrical fashion such that the connection pins are inserted into the block through the connection pin insertion parts. The connection pin insertion parts are successively formed in the inner lower end of the reinforcement material insertion part in an arc shape. Catching parts, in which the left and right sides of the connection pins inserted into the block are caught, are formed in the lower ends of the connection pin insertion parts, whereby the reinforcement material is anchored by the connection pins in the block. However, the invention of this patent document has a problem in that subsidiary materials, such as connection pins, are needed.
In addition, as disclosed in Patent Document 2, a stabilized soil structure includes a main body, made of a cast material, configured to be securely connected to the interior of a sheathing element (e.g. a wall body) in the state in which the front end of a strip is prevented from being abruptly bent or twisted without using additional connection pins, wherein a channel for a reinforcement strip is formed in the main body between two protruding points located at the rear surface of the sheathing element, and the channel includes two straight parts respectively adjacent to the two protruding points and disposed such that the strip is located in the same protruding plane, which is perpendicular to the rear surface, two curved parts respectively connected to the two straight parts and disposed such that the strip escapes from the protruding plane, and a connection part for interconnecting the two curved parts, the connection part having at least one loop located outside the protruding plane.
In Patent Document 2, the reinforcement strip can be connected to the sheathing element without being twisted or abruptly bent. In order to connect the reinforcement strip to the sheathing element, however, an additional subsidiary member, such as a wire, is needed, and it takes a lot of time and effort to connect the reinforcement strip to the sheathing element, whereby constructability is lowered. In addition, it is difficult to successively construct the reinforcement strip in a serpentine fashion without cutting the reinforcement strip. For this reason, a cut portion of the reinforcement strip having a predetermined length must be individually connected to each connection region, whereby workability and constructability are lowered.
In addition, in Patent Document 2, the reinforcement strip depends merely on frictional resistance, with the result that the length of the reinforcement strip that must be laid is increased, which is uneconomical. Furthermore, the cut edge of the reinforcement strip contacts moisture, salt, and other chemical components in soil, with the result that the physical properties of the reinforcement strip may be changed. In this case, the stability of the soil structure may be affected.